Apple blows the doors off (again) (1 Viewer)

[Parker Clack]

Amazon is working on a colorized version of the Kindle. I think any of tablet devices needs a similar connection to the web as the Kindle has with access anytime instead of being tied to wi-fi.

Actually one of the netbooks out there with a tablet screen, more RAM, always on access would be great. The screen would have to be a touch type and could be rotated from a tablet to a standard netbook. In tablet mode you would get a virtual keyboard and could load aps like those used for the iPhone, iPod Touch. In the tablet mode you would get a traditional GUI.

 

[Ted Todorov]

The killer App is a color magazine/book reader + video & video game player (all the iPod Touch type functionality), more sophisticated remote controls, medical devices, etc.

The barrier (from Apple's point of view) is that e-Ink tech is too slow for video, games, etc. So I would guess this is not going to be e-Ink. Also e-Ink appears to have issues with touch screen, as the new Barnes & Nobles book reader has a separate LCD screen for the touch screen activity from the eInk screen for reading.

So my guess:
Unless Apple has a breakthrough in eInk type tech that no one else is privy, the iTablet (or iSlate if the NY Times editor casual remark is to be taken literally) will feature an LCD/LED/OLED or similar and emphasize periodical/newspaper reading over books, plus all the current iPhone/iPod Touch type functions: Apps, Video playback, Video games, etc.

Mind you, if they succeed and somehow manage 10+ hours of battery life for reading I think they have a success on their hands (certainly a bigger success than Kindle so far).

Possibly Apple could release Yet Another eBook Reader based on color eInk (which would be a commercial first), but I suspect that Jobs sees an eBook only device as a dead end, and a more general device that can play video and games as the future.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Also: remember the billion dollar plus investment (pre-payment) Apple gave to a screen maker (LG?????) -- unless it was for the 27" iMac, they paid for exclusive access to some possibly breakthrough tech for the iTablet screen.

 

[Sam Posten]

The conference is still going on but lemme tell ya the highlights: 7million iPads 4 million macs 6 billion profit 27 billion in revenues Apple now has more cash on hand than Bill Gates has net worth Jeeeeebus!

 

[DaveF]

Every quarter I'm painfully reminded of my failure to buy $10k of Apple stock back in ~98 when they were about $10/share. (In my defense, I was a student and that would have been the entirety of my life savings. And Apple was really sucking it up back then and I wasn't a particular fan of them nor a real user.) If, if, if...I'd have a nice fat nest egg to cushion my life

 

[Sam Posten]

Excellence has become a habit: http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/18/apple-q1-2011/

 

[Sam Posten]

Chartses!


http://www.macworld.com/article/157242/2011/01/first_quarter_earnings_2011.html

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov 



If they offered the iPhone to all US cell carriers ("the entire market") subsidies per phone would be much lower (AT&T pays more because it is exclusive), thus some combination of phone price higher/Apple profit lower would occur.  In any event they haven't been able to yet meet demand for iPhone 3GS, so they wouldn't have sold more iPhones, no matter what.

It would undoubtedly be better for consumers if they could get an iPhone on the carrier of their choice (even at a higher upfront price), but it isn't clear if it is better for Apple (and Apple investors) -- certainly not in the short term.

 

Actaully, as it turns out, I am totally wrong about Apple getting more subsidy due to carrier exclusivity -- see http://www.asymco.com/2011/01/21/the-end-of-exclusivity-doesnt-change-the-price-operators-pay-for-the-iphone/ So in fact the sooner Apple goes entirely carrier neuteral (T-Mobile, Sprint) the better. The one thing I did get right is that Apple's main problem is making iPhones fast enough, as yet again emphasized by Tim Cook in the latest earnings call. So all this is academic until Apple finds a way to meet current iPhone demand.

 

[mattCR]

Yes and no, Ted.. Apple did get a big stipend at the beginning which probably influenced a great deal of them not only sticking with ATT, but also making it affordable for end users. Getting something created is harder then revising it. As time has went on and adoption of the device, the subsidy per carrier doesn't matter as big. I completely agree on the point of going Carrier Neutral. Introducing a phone for T-Mobile should be dead easy (it's another GSM, and people have already unlocked ATT to transfer as an option) same with mini-carriers (see: Cricket, Metro, Virgin, etc. and mini-GSM or Verizon co-providers).. the only one that would likely still be a hitch would be Sprint, but that's a different story.

 

[DaveF]

Why would Sprint be hard? It's CDMA and shares towers and frequencies with Verizon in some cases, no?

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

A CDMA phone from Sprint would be pretty much identical with the current Verizon iPhone 4. But going forward Verizon will be LTE and even though they have dropped hints they may consider LTE in the future, Sprint has placed all of their bets on WiMAX.

 

[Ted Todorov]

There won't be a LTE iPhone before 2012 anyway. Actually T-Mobile is the hard one due to it's non-standard 3G frequency. AFAIK there is no Android 3G phone that works with 3G on both AT&T and T-Mobile. Different radios are needed.

 

[Sam Posten]

Just another day at the office.

Apple on Wednesday reported a fiscal second quarter profit of $5.99 billion. Apple said it did $24.67 billion in revenue for the quarter.

In the same quarter last year Apple post revenue of $13.5 billion and a quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, the company said in releasing the fiscal results. International sales accounted for 59 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we’re firing on all cylinders,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.”

Apple said it sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. It also sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter and 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Apple also said it sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter.

Less than 5 million iPads this quarter, the sky is falling!

 

[Ted Todorov]

The record profits keep happening, quarter after quarter after quarter. Wall St. is shocked, shocked every darn time. It's a joke, really. One with much money involved.

 

[Sam Posten]

If only Apple would embrace Flash! Imagine their profits then! /sarcasm

 

[DaveF]

We'd have much more and better free iOS software too. I can barely make ends meet, paying for these $0.99 apps!

 

[Sam Posten]

T minus 45....

 

[Sam Posten]

$7.79 EPS $28bn quarter. Hollleeeeeee crizzap!

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeow. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/07/19Apple-Reports-Third-Quarter-Results.html

 

[Ted Todorov]

20+ million iPhones (selling one year old and one 2 year old device), 9.5 million iPads. Still haven't quite caught up with iPad demand, and will need quite a bit more production to hit their "target 4-6 weeks of channel inventory". Plus, they still need to add tons more countries. The next two quarters will be monsters for the iPad.